Known golf balls include solid golf balls comprising a solid core, an optional intermediate layer and a cover, wound golf balls comprising a wound core (having a solid center and thread rubber) and a cover, and one-piece golf balls formed from a rubber composition into a single piece. Attempts have been made on these golf balls to improve their flight distance and performance by tailoring the materials of their components.
Thermoplastic polyether ester elastomers, because of their flexibility and resilience, are often used in golf balls as the intermediate layer between the core and the cover. These elastomers are also used as various core materials, for example, solid core material, solid center material and one-piece golf ball material.
However, when thermoplastic polyether ester elastomers are used as the core material, their potential compression set raises the problem that the ball undergoes plastic deformation upon hitting.
Partially because the demand on golf balls is diversified in recent years, it is desired to develop a more flexible and resilient material as a multilayer structure material and for the solid core, solid center or one-piece golf ball.